Rabbi's Blog

One of the advantages an orthodox pulpit Rabbi holds over other denominations is his Shabbos morning drasha. In other religions or other denominations, recording is not forbidden on Shabbos. It is, however, forbidden in an orthodox Shul. An orthodox Rabbi has a little more literary license when it comes to Shabbos speeches because no one can record them and 'catch' the Rabbi saying something good, bad or indifferent. On the other hand, writing a speech or a dvar Torah requires careful deliberation with regard to how and what to say. Once something is in print, it is forever! We are all well aware of the dangers and problems that have arisen due to the modern technology of e-mail, twitter, texting etc. whereby people type things and send them out without any discretion. Sometimes that information can destroy a person whom it is written against. It can also, at times, destroy the writer himself. A very dear and close friend of mine has a personal policy never to put things in writing for some of the reasons I mention here. Generally speaking, I try to follow his advice. However, aside from my weekly Torah message (like this one) I was recently drawn into writing for a forum whereby I answer questions with other Rabbis, addressing certain issues relating to the Jewish community. For the very first time in my life I wrote something out of the goodness of my heart and some readers either failed to understand the entire message or simply lacked the purpose of the forum. My latest frustration came when someone challenged my source and said, "Why quote from a secular source and not from a passuk in Tanach or from a certain medrash?" That individual's citation was poor as it did not give the book, chapter and verse for me to reference it. It took me a few hours to track down the sources and discovered one of his quoted sources was not to be found. I did find something similar in tone, but it was located somewhere else. In general, I become irritated and angry when I need to check sources and footnotes that are wrong - sending me on a wild goose chase trying to figure out where the source is. In this particular case the noted source and medrash was not the intention of my message. My theme was on the one hand to plan for a child's future and prepare him properly. I used a quote "not to look at the ship when it goes out to sea, rather when it comes back". My point was that it is important to prepare for the journey adequately, but not worry too much as you will see the fruits of your labor when your child grows up. The individual quoted a passuk from Kings One 20:11 "Al Yishalel chogeir K'Mifateiach" "One who girds the sword shall not boast as one who ungirds his sword". Rashi explains one who girds his sword to go down to war, who does not know whether he will be victorious or not, should not boast". The Malbim explains this a little differently: "One who enters into battle realizing that he may be defeated takes all precautions to avoid falling into the hands of his adversary. On the other hand, one who enters into battle certain of victory, will be careless and leave himself vulnerable to his enemy's attacks". The Yalkut Shimoni, quoting from the Medrash Tanchuma, explains this passage in Navi stating: "I am a king, the son of a king, while he has just recently acquired his kingship. Yet, he is arrogant and boastful?" The message is not to be haughty when you haven't proven yourself or have not gone through the trials and tribulations that a king or leader must face. Just wait. Later on, when you have gained more experience you will more deeply grasp the difference between a boastful or haughty affect and a confident and optimistic view for the future. The two don't necessarily contradict each other. No question that a person should prepare for his physical and spiritual battles beforehand, but we can be confident that if we have prepared properly we will experience ultimate success. We are not the ones to determine the meaning of success. If we have prepared properly, the result is what it should be. The timing of this little writing episode coincides with the discussion of the punishment of being haughty and boastful found in this week's parshios of Tazria and Metzora. While Parshas Tazria discusses the physical features of Tzaraas - leprosy - Parshas Metzora examines the rehabilitation and spiritual healing of the leper. The Gemara in Erchin 16a tells us the offenses that will incur the penalty of biblical leprosy, known as Tzoraas. The gemara states: Rav Shmuel Bar Nachmeini says in the name of Rebbi Yonasan, 'because of seven things the affliction of tzoraas comes upon a person. They are: Loshan Hora, shedding blood, swearing falsely, immorality, haughtiness, stealing and a stingy eye'. The Maharsha connects the seven kinds of leprosy mentioned in Tazria, stating that they will come based upon the offense of that particular sin mentioned in the gemara. The first sin of Lashon Hora, evil speech is the most serious of the offenses because it is the only one the perpetrator gets nothing out of as a result of his misdeed. This is in comparison to the other six sins where a person derives some forbidden benefit from their actions. The Tzoraas that comes from haughtiness is found on the forehead of a person. The first chapter of Gemara Sotah describes a haughty person as having worshiped idolatry as he walks around with his head held high, disregarding Hashem. The atonement for the sin of haughtiness is demonstrated by the Kohain Gadol, who wore the headband to remind us to be humble. Through the discussion of the physical features of Tzaraas in Parshas Tazria and through the rehabilitation and spiritual healing of Tzaraas discussed in Parshas Metzora we should be reminded that whenever we go out to accomplish something we need to remember that it is with God's help that we accomplish everything in life. We need to consistently put forth our best efforts and prepare to the greatest of our ability. But at the end of the day we can only be successful with the help and guidance of Hashem. If we forget about God and think we can do it alone, we are guilty of Gaava/haughtiness - a rebellious act of idolatry against Hashem. The Kapara/atonement is to keep in mind that Hashem is helping us along the way. We need to be confident that our situation in life will always have a good outcome as the ship returns home. Ah Gut Shabbos Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky